Letting Go
by Midnight523
Summary: Snips and Ninja weren't the only ones with a secret; Red has one too. Luckily, she has Jules to lean on in these tough times.
1. Chapter 1

**So, I've had requests in the last story I wrote to have more Jules. While the last story didn't really have any Team One in it at all, I'm more than happy to oblige. This is going to be mostly about Red and Jules, though there is some Sam. I hope you all enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: nothing you recognize belongs to me.**

_Red always wanted to come in to practice, even after long days of work the day before._

Danielle McCarthy was an uncomplicated girl living in a complicated situation. It was a situation that she just didn't know how to handle. She had been living in this complicated situation for as long as she could remember.

She had never felt wanted at home when she was younger. Her father was a loud man who complained all the time and didn't know when to stop drinking, and her mother was a drug addict who just didn't know when to quit. And for a while, that's all it was. And Danielle could deal with that.

Then one day everything changed. She was seven, and she had come home to find her house a wreck. It was like that usually, so she didn't think anything of it. She was surprised, however, to find her father waiting for her. "You stupid, _stupid_ girl," he hissed.

She looked at him, confused. "What did I do, daddy?"

A fist connected with her face, sending her flying backwards. A kick followed that, and she screamed out in pain. This just seemed to enrage her father more, and his kicks became more violent, harsher. She curled up in on herself, hoping to lessen the pain. All too soon, blackness claimed her.

FPFPFPFPFPFPFP

Red blinked, shuddering out of the memory. That was the day that her mother had overdosed and died. Her father had somehow blamed her for this happening, saying that it was because of a bad grade, and to her seven-year-old mind, her father was always right, and so she believed him. Her mother's death was her fault, and nothing could change that.

She looked around her, trying to get her bearings and remember what exactly was going on. She realized that she was on the bus, and was about to get dropped off at home. She shuddered, not wanting to go into the house right now. She had gotten a B on her calc test, and while it was a really good score in the teacher's eyes, she just knew her father would be mad that she hadn't gotten a perfect score, that she hadn't gotten an A. She didn't want to face the music. But she knew she had no choice.

So, sighing, she got up as the bus stopped and let her off. She shrugged her backpack onto her back, gripping the straps tightly. Maybe he would be asleep. Maybe he would be too drunk to get up. Even as she hoped, she knew that it wasn't going to be the case as she heard the TV on inside. So she put on her brave face and entered the house.

FPFPFPFPFPFPFP

Red curled up in her bed, trying to ignore the pain. Snips had put up with whips, she reminded herself. She could deal with kicks and punches. But it was a useless battle, and the reminder that her friend had gone through worse just made her feel extra worthless for not being able to deal with this. She began to cry quietly, putting her pillow over her face to muffle the sounds. Why did her father hate her so much? Why couldn't she ever be good enough?

Why couldn't he just kill her?

**Okay, so this was originally going to be a one-shot, but fanfiction wasn't allowing me to upload everything at once, so I have to do this in parts. Next part up soon!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Hope you enjoy this next part!**

A week had passed since the bad test score, but her father still found reasons to hurt her every night. She didn't make dinner the way he wanted it to, she was late coming home, she looked at him funny, and so many others.

One day she got off the bus again, bracing herself for what was about to come. She had already been having a bad day at trying to avoid the teachers' questioning stares at a particularly bad bruise on her eye, and she didn't want him to rail on her as well. She was looking at her house, dreading to go in, when she had an idea. Team Five didn't have a set schedule of when they needed to meet, it was more of a "hey, I have nothing going on this Saturday for once in my life do you guys have any plans? No? Cool, let's call a practice." But they had all been told that they were more than welcome to go and train on their own or with whoever was there.

So, making a decision that she was sure she would regret later that night, she started running, running as fast as she could in case her father looked at the window. He couldn't know that she had been home but hadn't come in; the punishment would be severe. So she ran.

About twenty minutes later (she had slowed down to a walk at some point) she arrived at the SRU headquarters. She walked in, trying to appear like nothing was wrong. "Hey, Kira," she said to the receptionist.

"Red!" the blonde smiled. "How are you—what happened to your eye?"

Red shrugged and smiled. "Some friends and I were messing around, and I wasn't paying attention. I ran right into a tree." She had been practicing this story in her head. She was good at coming up with excuses. "It hurt, but one of their moms saw it happen and offered to buy us all ice cream, so" she shrugged and grinned. "That was nice."

Kira smiled back. "Well, I'm glad something good came out of it," she commented.

Red nodded in agreement. "Anyone here?"

Kira nodded. "Yeah, Team One is in the warm-up room."

"Cool. See ya, Kira," she waved.

"Have fun!" the receptionist called to her retreating back.

Red walked into the women's locker room and began to change into her extra set of clothes she left here. Finishing, she looked in the mirror at the bruise around her eye. Kira believed her story, so Team One would too, right? She sighed. She hoped they would.

She entered the warm-up room, smiling broadly at Team One, who greeted her warmly. Jules came up to her. "I was just trying to find a sparring partner," the sole woman on Team One said happily. "How about it?"

Red smiled at her and nodded, not letting the fact that she was dreading it show. Her body was still bruised and battered, and she just knew that this was going to be _painful_. But she put on a brave face and said yes, not wanting anyone to question what was wrong.

The first few minutes went okay, both starting out tentatively, both just testing their opponents. Then it started heating up. Red was sore, but she was able to push it out of her mind as she began to enjoy the fight, the intricate dancing of the feet that went along with it. They were swinging, kicking, moving and jabbing, each trying to land a hit on the other.

Red had gotten much better at hand-to-hand since joining the team. She had been horrible at it at first, but slowly, with help from Ninja, especially, she began to get used to it and actually enjoy. She still couldn't beat her friend, but she could hold her own in a fight.

Then, suddenly, Red's attention shifted to something outside and Jules was able to break through her defense, landing a solid kick to her stomach. All of the breath left her lungs as she stumbled backwards, falling down heavily. She coughed, trying to get her lungs to move.

Jules leaned down beside her. "You okay, Red? That looked like it hurt," she said worriedly.

Red didn't say anything, just tried to get her lungs to function properly. It _hurt_. Soon, she felt hands on her shoulder, and she looked up into Wordy's face. "Breathe with me, Red. In, and out. In, out." He breathed, and she tried to follow along, but the pain was harsh. It was hard to breathe.

Vaguely, she could hear Jules saying in the background, "I didn't think I kicked her that hard. And she had been blocking everything I threw at her. I don't know what happened."

"It's not your fault, Jules," she heard Braddock say to her. Even in her pained state of mind, she was able to internally smirk at the two. It was so obvious they were dating; she couldn't believe no one else had picked it up yet.

That all left her mind as she felt someone gently try to pull up her shirt, and she went frantic, shoving them away in a frenzied state of mind. Wordy's hold tightened on her shoulder. "We're not going to hurt you, Red," he said soothingly. "We just want to look at the damage."

She shook her head; she couldn't let them do that. If they did, they would see the bruises and know something was going on. She couldn't let that happen; her father had made it very clear what would happen if someone found out. So she fought them, kicked and punched even though it hurt to do so, and finally she heard Wordy say, "Okay, stop. She obviously isn't liking this." Red let out a sigh as the hands went away, all except Wordy's. "Can you take a deep breath for me, Red?" she heard him ask. She couldn't really see him; her vision had gotten all fuzzy when she was fighting, she had been hyperventilating at the time. Slowly she did as he asked until she was able to see clearly.

When she was, she looked down, not meeting anyone's worried gaze. She knew she couldn't brush this off; everyone was wondering what had happened. She sighed. Maybe she just should've gone home.

She looked up in surprise as a hand was reached down to her. Jules was on the other side of the extended limb, smiling softly. "Come on."

Red didn't know where they were going, but she took the proffered hand and leveraged herself up. At least it would get her away from Team One. She followed Jules silently to the locker room, where she was instructed to sit. She did as she was told, looking at the ground. Jules squatted down in front of her. "I know that you didn't want them to see the damage, but I really need to look at it, Red," the older woman said softly. "I need to make sure everything's okay."

Red shook her head mutely.

Jules smiled. "C'mon, kid, it's nothing I haven't seen before." Still, Red made no movement. "What are you hiding, kiddo?"

Red kept her eyes on the floor, but one lone tear leaked out. She mumbled something.

Jules leaned forward. "What was that?"

"Promise you won't tell anyone?" was said a bit more clearly.

Jules leaned back again. This was a puzzling situation. On one hand, if she didn't promise, then she probably wouldn't be able to make sure that Red was okay. On the other, she was pretty sure that Red was _not_ okay, and if she did promise, she might not be able to give her the help she needed. "I'll tell you what," she finally decided. "I won't tell anyone unless it's critical to your health." Red stayed still and silent, so Jules sighed. "I won't tell anyone on either of our teams," she amended.

After a few minutes of silence, Red finally nodded. Slowly, she began to pull her shirt off, and Jules could only stare at what was underneath.

**Sorry, but fanfiction isn't allowing to post long chapters. I'll hopefully get everything up tonight!**


	3. Chapter 3

**Okay, so there is going to be one more chapter after this. Hope you enjoy!**

Multiple scars and bruises littered the battered body, and she could see a heavy bruise right in the middle of her chest. Jules knew there was no way she could have created that bruise, meaning that someone else had intentionally and forcefully hit Red there. And Jules had probably hit right there in their sparring match. During her silent evaluation, Red kept her eyes on the ground, ashamed. "Who did this to you, Red?" She still stayed silent. "Danielle?"

Red flinched back. Only her father ever called her Danielle anymore. Everyone at the SRU called her Red, even Constable Lane, finally, and at school she went by Dani.

Jules saw and correctly interpreted the flinch. "He's not going to hurt you anymore," she said softly. "No one will be able to hurt you like this anymore."

"I can take it," Red whispered softly.

"You shouldn't have to," Jules retorted softly. "No one should have to take it." Red stayed silent, and Jules sighed. "Just because Snips had to take it for most of her life doesn't mean you should, too." Red's head shot up, eyes wide in astonishment. Jules chuckled sadly. "C'mon, Red, it's obvious you look up to her. Now, I understand why better. But Lucia's situation was different. She didn't have anyone to turn to, or else I'm sure she would've told someone. You, however, have an entire team of friends to depend on, as well as my team. You don't have to take this."

"I deserve it," Red whispered.

"No one deserves to be beaten every day," Jules said seriously. "No one, no matter how much they think they deserve it, really does. It's cruel and not right. For anyone."

Red was about to reply when they heard yelling out in the hall. Red recognized the voice, and her eyes widened in terror. Jules saw this and correctly put two and two together. She stood up and strode out of the room. "Jules, no," Red pleaded. "Please."

"I won't let anyone in on what's going on," Jules promised, "but I'm not letting you go home with him." She continued out of the room, and Red followed timidly.

Just as she suspected, her father was there, yelling at Kira. "I want to know where my daughter is this instant!" he roared.

"What is going on here?" Jules asked.

She might be small, but she had a voice that was commanding. They turned to look at her, and her father spotted Red standing farther back. "Get in the car, Danielle," he said, voice lowered. "We're going home."

Red made to move, but Jules stopped her. "No, I don't think she will."

Her father sneered. "She has to," he said. "I'm her father, and I'm telling her to come now. Danielle," he said, turning to face her, and she flinched. "Let's go. The plane leaves in an hour."

"What?" Red whispered, fear in her eyes. "What plane?"

"We're moving."

Her eyes widened in terror. Moving? She couldn't move. This was where her friends were, where her teams were. If she moved she wouldn't have a reason to live anymore. She couldn't leave. "Your bag is already in the car," her father said. "I packed up all of your stuff for you." His voice was sugary sweet, and Red wanted to be sick. She had no choice, though. Lowering her head, she began to move towards him.

Jules caught her arm. "Stay here," she instructed. Red looked at her in confusion. What did she think she could do?

Jules moved outside, her walk brisk and with purpose. She went to the car she correctly assumed was his, as it was still running, and pulled out the small duffel in the back that she recognized belonged to Red. She picked it up, thinking internally how there was no way that this was all that Red owned, and marched back inside, past the now gaping man and to his equally astonished daughter. She stood protectively beside Red. "She's coming home with me," she announced.

"She's what?" he said, voice loud and deadly.

"I'm what?" she asked, voice quiet and astonished.

Jules turned to look at her, eyes softening. "I told you," she whispered. "He's not going to hurt you anymore."

Behind them, Team One was looking on, confused. They had no idea what was going on right now, though some of them had a pretty good guess. Jules turned back to the man that was still gaping in astonishment. "Get out."

"Who do you—" he started.

"Think I am?" Jules finished. "I think that I am a member of one of the most elite teams in this city, and that if you don't want to go to jail, you'll get out of this building now and never look back." She knew that Red didn't want anyone knowing what happened to her, but she couldn't just let this man walk free. So she sent him off, with plans in mind to have him arrested for child endangerment and abuse later, with Red secretly testifying. No one would have to know, Red would be safe, and this man would be behind bars.

He sputtered, but with all of Team One backing her up, he knew he had no choice. "This isn't over," he spat.

"Yes. It is." Jules stepped forward protectively. "If you ever come near this girl again, I will have your life destroyed so fast, you won't even have time to realize that it's done. Stay away from her."

He still looked furious, but began to back up. "Fine," he spat. "She's worth nothing to me anyway. Keep her if you want." With that he turned on his heel and stormed out of the building, got into his car, and drove away.

"Um, Jules?"

"Later, Boss," she responded. "If it's okay with you, I'm gonna take Red to my house and get her settled in."

Red was still staring at her with shock, and Sergeant Parker knew he couldn't argue. "Of course," he agreed readily. "Take all the time you need."

Jules threw an arm around the younger girl's shoulders and began to steer her outside and into her car. "You can have the guest bedroom."

Finally Red snapped out of her shock, and she couldn't help the next sentence that came out of her mouth, even though she didn't want to step on any of the toes of her rescuer. She couldn't get her mouth to do what her brain wanted. "Is that because Sam sleeps in your room?"

Jules stared at her in astonishment, and Red ducked her head down. "Sorry," she muttered. "It just came out."

Everything was quiet, and Red was just starting to wish that the ground would swallow her up when Jules began to laugh. "I'm gonna like having you around."

Red looked up at her. "Really?"

Jules nodded. "How did you know?"

Red shrugged. "Just kind of seemed obvious, I guess. I'm surprised no one else has seen it."

Jules shrugged. "Team One knows," she commented easily. "They just don't care. Sam and I can do our jobs just as well as if we weren't dating. It doesn't affect our work."

Red nodded. To be honest, she didn't even care. What people did in their spare time and who they dated was their business, not hers. Soon enough, they parked in front of a house. "I hope you like it," Jules said. "The guest bedroom is a bit small, but it should be comfortable."

"I'm sure it'll be fine," Red assured her. She would live in the broom closet if it meant she didn't have to see her father anymore. Jules nodded and opened the door, gesturing for Red to go in. Jules showed her to her new room and watched as Red put down her bag on the bed hesitantly.

"Where is the rest of your stuff?" Jules asked.

Red shrugged. "He might've had it moved ahead, or trashed it or gave it to other people. I don't know."

"We'll get you some new clothes and things," Jules promised.

"You don't have to do that," Red said quietly. She didn't want to appear like a burden; she could survive with what she had, she didn't want Jules to complain that she had to spend so much money on her new charge.

"I know," Jules agreed pleasantly. "I want to." Red looked at her, the confusion in her eyes clearly questioning 'Why?' "You're a special girl, Red," Jules said seriously. "You deserve to have some nice things and have a fun time shopping for them. And I want to be the one doing the shopping with you." Red was quiet for a few minutes, tracing the quilt patterns with her fingers. "You said earlier that you thought you deserved what your father was doing to you," Jules said quietly. "Why?"

"Because it was my fault she died," Red said softly, brokenly. "I killed her."

"You killed who, sweetheart?"

"My mom." Red took a shuddering breath. "She didn't like me, so she used drugs and one day she overdosed on them when I was seven because I got a bad grade on my spelling test. It was my fault." This all rushed out of her, and soon she was crying silently. "It's all my fault."

Jules sat on the bed next to her and wrapped her up in a hug. "It's not your fault," she said fiercely. "Your father was wrong."

"How do you know?" Red protested, though she didn't move out of the embrace. She hadn't been hugged in… forever, she realized. She couldn't remember the last time someone hugged her, so she took it for all it was worth.

"Because even if you did get a bad grade, your mom would still love you."

"But she killed herself because of me."

"Who told you that?" Jules asked. "Your father?" Red nodded slowly. "Don't believe him, Red. He's all wrong. He's wrong because you didn't kill your mother, you didn't deserve those beatings, and you are an amazing young girl who deserves a good home with people who love you." Red sobbed, clinging to the first person to ever tell her this. "You are special," Jules whispered fiercely. "You are special and amazing and you're going to make a difference in this world. You probably already have. And one day, you're going to meet someone who's going to be going through what you went through, and you're going to be able to look at them and tell them it's going to be okay, and they're going to believe you because they will look at you and see that you survived. They're going to look at you and know that everything will be okay." Jules stroked her hair. "You're going to have such a huge impact on this world," she whispered. "Trust me."

Red said nothing, and Jules looked down and realized that the girl had cried herself to sleep. She lifted her up and pulled back the covers, tucking the girl securely inside. Then she left the room, shutting the door softly behind her.

When she went downstairs, she realized just how much time had passed when she saw Sam making something in the kitchen. "She okay?" he asked.

"Sleeping," she responded. She moved next to him and stirred the noodles in the boiling water. "Spaghetti?"

He nodded. "My famous spaghetti with a Caesar Salad on the side," he claimed, smirking. She smiled at him and tested a noodle. "Needs a bit more time," he said. "Already tested it right before you walked in." He leaned against the counter, crossing his arms over his chest. "So, is she okay?"

Jules sighed. "I don't know," she said. "She's been through a lot, a lot that she shouldn't have had to deal with."

"Like her father abusing her?"

Jules glanced at him. "I promised I wouldn't say anything to either of our teams, so if you guys could keep whatever assumptions you make to yourself, I'd be grateful."

Sam held up his hands in surrender. "It wasn't that hard to put together, Jules."

"She doesn't want anyone knowing."

"Relax, Jules, you know we won't say anything."

She sighed. "I know; I just want her to be able to trust me." She looked at him sadly. "I gave her a hug, Sam, and she acted like she had never had one before. What kid has never had a hug?"

"The kid who can only get stronger with time."

**There is going to be one more chapter after this one. Please review!**


	4. Chapter 4

**Okay, this is the last chapter. Hope you enjoy!**

"Jules!" Red shrieked. She was soaking wet, courtesy of her older friend. Grinning madly, Jules raced away, launching water balloons behind her. Red grinned and went after her.

"You can't catch me!" Jules taunted wickedly.

She yelled in surprise as a water balloon hit her smack in the back. Red laughed, "I don't have to catch you to hit you!"

Jules turned to try and get her back, but another water balloon found its mark. "Isn't a bit cold for a water balloon fight?"

They looked up to see Ninja sitting on the fence, water balloon in hand. Red shrugged. "No?"

"It's snowing," Ninja commented. "You're wearing snow coats."

"So?" Jules asked.

At that moment, the three heard a car door slam. Sam walked through the house and to the back door. He looked out the door and sighed. "I left you home alone for twenty minutes." He shook his head. "Twenty minutes."

Red and Jules looked at each other, then at the two men watching them. Without a word they raised their arms and released their balloons. Sam yelled in surprise as he was hit, but Ninja just ducked out of the way. Soon, it escalated into a guy vs. girls all-out water fight.

That went on for about ten minutes before Jules and Sam finally called it off. "Come on, time to get inside."

They walked in and Sam got the hot chocolate started. "How's break going?" Jules asked as she handed a towel to the two teens. Ninja grabbed it and dried himself off while Red went upstairs to change.

"Good," Ninja replied. "Lu's off already. Took her finals last week. The boys are enjoying all the snow here, making tons of snowmen and snow angels. John tried to climb a tree because a ball got stuck up there and hurt himself when he fell down, but he'll be fine in a couple of weeks. Nothing broken."

"Good." Sam handed him a steaming mug as Red came down and grabbed one of her own. "You able to stick around for awhile?"

Ninja shook his head. "Already here longer than I planned. I can stick around for a few more minutes, but then I have to head home. We're going to New York for break, so I have to help pack up for the trip."

Red snorted. "How's Sarge gonna be survive here without Snips around?"

Ninja smirked. "Who says he's staying here?"

Red gaped. "He's going to New York with you?"

Ninja nodded. "Yeah, Cal and Drake said they had to meet him to make sure that he's a good candidate for Lu."

Jules frowned. "They've already met him, though, at the graduation."

Ninja shook his head. "Yeah, but they weren't dating at the time, so they didn't have a chance to try and scare Sarge off. Now they feel they have to do their fatherly duty to scare the living daylights out of any guy Lu's even interested in." Red laughed again, everyone else joining in.

They all talked for some more minutes, during which Ninja noticed the change in his friend. She seemed more relaxed, happier. He smiled softly. Moving in with Jules and Sam had been good for her. As he left, he gave her a brief hug. "I'm glad you're happy."

She hugged him back. "Me too."

She watched until he got into his car and drove off. Then she turned to the couple behind her and smiled. "Thank you," she said softly. The past two months had been the best months of her life, and she knew they were just going to get better. Jules gave her a hug, and she returned it fiercely. "I'm finally able to let go of what he did to me. Thank you."

"Anytime, kiddo. Anytime."

**Please tell me what you think!**


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